Giambi Sprains His Ankle and Seems Headed for D.L.

By TYLER KEPNER

Published: May 22, 2004

ARLINGTON, Tex., May 21 — Through injuries to his left knee, left hip and back, Jason Giambi has avoided the disabled list as a Yankee. That will probably change now, after he sprained his right ankle Friday when he stepped awkwardly rounding first base.

Giambi left Ameriquest Field on crutches after the game, and Manager Joe Torre said Giambi would probably be placed on the disabled list. He is batting .270 with 9 homers and 24 runs batted in.

Giambi was injured in the ninth inning. He lashed a hit down the right-field line and was heading for second base when his right ankle buckled. Giambi was in obvious pain and walked slowly off the field. He was replaced by pinch-runner Homer Bush.

"I don't know what I did after I reached the bag," Giambi said through a team spokesman. "I don't know what happened. I don't know if I stepped in a hole or something. I can only go by what the doctor told me. We'll see tomorrow."

The Yankees said that X-rays on Giambi's ankle were negative, revealing only the sprain. Giambi had already been limited to designated hitter the last three games. His replacement at first base, Tony Clark, has played well defensively but is batting .200 (9 for 45) with 2 homers and 7 R.B.I.

Rodriguez Walks Into Fray

To Alex Rodriguez, returning to Texas should be simple. He can analyze the February trade for Alfonso Soriano and see how it benefited the Rangers and the Yankees.

"Soriano is a guy that, if he hit 55 home runs in this ballpark, it would not surprise me," Rodriguez said at a pregame news conference Friday. "He can also steal 50 bases, which I can't do anymore. It's just a great move by everybody. Those guys are great players, and we're very good players, too. We're going to be fine."

The reality was more complex. The two-page spread in the back of a local newspaper — available in racks in the Yankees' clubhouse — called him A-Rat. Some of the questions directed to Rodriguez from reporters challenged him on his reasons for leaving and the hurt feelings he may have left behind.

Rodriguez tried humor to answer a question about his comment in ESPN the Magazine in which he said he would never have signed with Texas had he known he would be surrounded by "24 kids."

"I was speaking with my wife, and what I mean is we're going to adopt 24 kids," he said. Later, Rodriguez pointedly referred to the Rangers' younger players as young men, not kids.

Contreras's Return

José Contreras will start again for the Yankees on Saturday, and in the best-case situation, he will show trust in his fastball and toughness when trouble arises. But even the officials who saw him at Class AAA Columbus cannot predict that for sure.

"Nobody knows how he's going to react when he pitches tomorrow," said Gordon Blakeley, the Yankees' senior vice president, who signed Contreras and watched him in the minors this month. "I would think, after two starts, his confidence would be better and he would pitch well. We don't have anybody with stuff as good as him. But that confidence factor is big."

Manager Joe Torre expected Contreras to have more than two starts at Columbus before returning. But Blakeley and Billy Connors, the organization's pitching specialist, saw enough progress from his first start to his second to recommend the promotion.

Contreras was 2-0 with a 3.29 earned run average for Columbus, striking out 19 in 13 2/3 innings.

"After the first start, Billy and I talked about him being more aggressive, pitching inside, not being afraid to move a guy back with his fastball — and he punched out 12 in his next outing," Blakeley said. "He worked out of two jams, which he hadn't been able to do in New York. He threw 126 pitches, and his last one was 94 miles an hour."

If Contreras has similar success Saturday, his spot in the rotation will not be an issue. If he does not, the Yankees will be more inclined to seek pitching help with a trade. But Torre insisted that no matter how Contreras did, his spot would be safe.

"He's our starter," Torre said. "It's not fair to him, after you send him out to try to get him depressurized, to make him go outing by outing."

Struggles at Second Base

Joe Torre said he thought Miguel Cairo looked tired after starting nine games in a row at second base before Thursday. So Enrique Wilson rejoined the lineup that night and went 0 for 4, extending his skid to 0 for 16 and dropping his average to .177.

But Wilson was robbed of a hit in that game and played strong defense, and he said he hoped to earn more playing time.

"If you're struggling, you put somebody else to play out there," Wilson said. "But I still hope that I can, because it's still early. I think I can come back and do better at the plate, because my defense is right there. I've got to keep working and keep my head up."